nger, longer than was wont in
maiden. "Proceed with your explanation;--these are rich velvets!"

"They come of Venice, too; but commerce is like the favor which attends
the rich, and the Queen of the Adriatic is already far on the decline.
That which causes the increase of the husbandman, occasions the downfall
of a city. The lagunes are filling with fat soil, and the keel of the
trader is less frequent there than of old. Ages hence, the plow may trace
furrows where the Bucentaur has floated! The outer India passage has
changed the current of prosperity, which ever rushes in the widest and
newest track. Nations might learn a moral, by studying the sleepy canals
and instructive magnificence of that fallen town; but pride fattens on its
own lazy recollections, to the last!--As I was saying, we rovers deal
little in musty maxims, that are made by the great and prosperous at home,
and are trumpeted abroad, in order that the weak and unhappy should be the
more closely riveted in their fetters."

"Methinks you push the principle further than is necessary, for one whose
greatest offence against established usage is a little hazardous commerce.
These are opinions, that might unsettle the world."

"Rather settle it, by referring all to the rule of right. When governments
shall lay their foundations in natural justice, when their object shall be
to remove the temptations to err, instead of creating them, and when
bodies of men shall feel and acknowledge the responsibilities of
individuals--why, then the Water-Witch, herself, might become a
revenue-cutter, and her owner an officer of the customs!"

The velvet fell from the hands of la belle Barberie, and she arose from
her seat with precipitation.

"Speak plainly," said Alida with all her natural firmness. "With whom am I
about to traffic?"

"An outcast of society--a man condemned in the opinions of the world--the
outlaw--the flagrant wanderer of the ocean--the lawless 'Skimmer of the
Seas!'" cried a voice, at the open window.

In another minute, Ludlow was in the room Alida uttered a shriek, veiled
her face in her robe, and rushed from the apartment.

Chapter XI.

"--Truth will come to light;
Murder cannot be hid long, a man's son may;
But in the end, truth will out.--"

Launcelot.

The officer of the Queen had leaped into the pavilion, with the flushed
features and all the hurry of an excited man. The exclamations and retreat
of la belle